


Nightmares and Sweet Dreams

by RoseDelSol



Series: Prideshipping Week 2016 [3]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-17
Updated: 2016-09-17
Packaged: 2018-08-15 09:32:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8051191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseDelSol/pseuds/RoseDelSol
Summary: (My first attempt for the Prideshipping Week Day 2: Dreams)Because who else but Seto would be sleeping in a huge ass castle (mansion) and wait for their knight (pharao) in shining armour to show up? Well, not exactly wait for him, but still.To accept their happiness, some people just need to be whacked over the head with something heavy. A magician's staff maybe. Or maybe a solid kick in the ass would do, preferably with a boot. Yami is not sure what would work better, really.





	Nightmares and Sweet Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> “I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream.” - Disney’s Sleeping Beauty

The young man sleeping in the biggest bedroom of the mansion was twisting in his sleep. His eyes twitched this way and that behind closed lids, but he didn't wake up.

When he started groaning and eventually shouting in his dream, the door to the adjoined bedroom opened and Mokuba Kaiba stuck his head through the gap.  
The young man's eyebrows furrowed in sorrow, but he knew he could not help his brother. Seto's nightmares always returned after a duell. Nightmares of Death-T, of being devoured alive by his own duel monster cards come to live, nightmares of a shattered heart and a never-ending labyrinth of darkness.

The first few times Mokuba had heard the tortured noise from his brother's bedroom, he had jumped to the older's rescue, but to no avail.  
On the very rare occasions that he managed to snap his brother out of the nightmare, Seto had lashed out violently. Still half-asleep and prisoner to his own demons, Seto had struck Mokuba and sent him half-tumbling, half-flying through the room and crashing into the dresser, causing deep bruises and a fractured rib. 

Mokuba sighed deeply and took a first hesitant step towards the bed. Ever since those first nights, Seto had forbidden his younger brother to even try waking him.

Mokuba sat on the bed, as far away from the trashing figure of his beloved brother as possible and anxiously watched the nightmare getting worse.  
Originally, the younger had thought the nightmares would get less horrible and less frequent as time went on. He had been wrong.  
There had been a brief time when Seto could almost sleep through the night before the nightmare started. But that had been before Battle City. Then, the nightmares had left Seto alone until the early hours of morning, and so the man had just started getting up earlier. He evaded the nightmares for weeks like that, until... Until Battle City.

After yet another unsuccessful attempt to defeat Yami, or the pharao as Ishizu had called him, Seto's sleep had once again been plagued by horrible images.  
But there was more. The reason Mokuba had started his nightly watch was that now there was a new dimension to the horror. Frequently Seto's screams would now feature words in a tongue the younger Kaiba didn't know, but reckoned where ancient Egyptian. That, Mokuba knew, had to have a connection to that last duel, to Ishizu, and to the pharao.

Mokuba had promised Seto to never wake him up from nightmares again, after he had been injured all those years ago.  
He was pretty sure that Seto would still hold him to that promise if Mokuba made an attempt to wake his brother up now.

Seto's trashing momentarily stopped and Mokuba knew that he was entering the stage of visions of an Egypt long past.  
Mokuba didn't know what Seto had seen in the visions evoked by the sennen items, and his brother never spoke of it, but it was quite clear that the vision had brought on a new wave of nightly terrors. 

But after tonight things would be different. Mokuba had made a promise the evening before. He would help his brother. Taking out his mobile he started a recording of the mumbled, ancient words.  
From experience he knew that computers could not decipher the ancient tongue. It would be just the same as with the script on the god cards. Seto obviously could translate it, but then Mokuba would have to admit to recording the nightmare in the first place, and he knew that wouldn't sit well with his brother. 

But they knew one other person in Domino who was fluent in ancient Egyptian.  
Seto had gradually become less focused over the past days and the dark shadows under his eyes had reaches an all-time low. It was time someone DID something about these nightmares. Seto would hate the mere idea of asking anyone for help, least of all the pharao spirit.  
Mokuba didn't care. Drastic times called for drastic measures and all that.

 

The next morning found a tired and yawning Mokuba sitting accross Seto at the kitchen table. The older Kaiba gave his brother a worried look over the brim of his coffee cup but didn't comment. It was likely Mokuba had been playing video games half the night and was now paying the price for being a foolish teenager.  
Mokuba was glad his brother didn't ask about his state. He didn't want to admit to be sitting at his brothers bed side for half the night, and he could never lie to his brother.

Later, Mokuba made his way to the Kame game shop. He had ditched his last lesson, complaining about a headache and because he was Mokuba Kaiba, the nurse had let him off.  
Bracing himself, the dark-haired teen gripped his mobile in the pocket of his school uniform, and entered the store. 

Sugoroku Mouto was sorting through what seemed like the latest series of Duel Monster cards, but looked up when he heard the bell.  
Surprise showed on his old face, before he covered it with a mask of professional friendliness. "What a surprise to see you, young mister Kaiba, how can I help you?"

Mokuba was impressed, if not slightly annoyed by the formal greeting and smiled embarrassed: "I was wondering if Yuugi is around and if he could possibly spare a few minutes for me."  
Sugoroku nodded and motioned for Mokuba to wait, then went to the back of the store. When he reappeared he had Yuugi in tow, the younger decked out in torn jeans and a slightly dusty shirt. "Oh, hey there, Mokuba!", the teen said with a bright smile: "Sorry for my appearance, I was sorting through the stock, and no matter how careful one is, you always end up with dirt all over you."

Mokuba just nodded. He liked Yuugi well enough, but right now he was too wound up for friendly chatter. Sugoroku picked up on the tension in the air and stepped in: "Why don't you boys go upstairs and get something to drink?" It was formulated as a question, maybe a suggestion, but was clearly meant as an order. By now, Yuugi had noticed Mokuba's frown as well, and gave his grandfather a quick nod before leading Mokuba through the store and up into the kitchen of the flat above.

"I'll just change into something less dusty, then I'll be right back!", Yuugi explained before disappearing from the room.  
Mokuba sat on a chair in the small kitchen and stared at a spot on the wall. How was he going to even start explaining what he was doing here? He had never really thought that far ahead. Maybe he should be leaving, delete the record and forget all about it. Seto would be furious with him when he found out he had even considered asking Yami for help.

But before Mokuba could make a decision and quietly slip out of the apartment, Yuugi was back.  
"Would you like something to drink?", he asked, still his cheerful self.  
Mokuba shook his head and decided to just get it out and over with: "Can I talk with, you know, the other you? With Yami?"

Yuugi looked at him, puzzled for a second, then shrugged. The transition was instantaneous, the flicker from violet to burning dark red eyes, the change in the way the man held himself. Yami raised an eyebrow at Mokuba.

The younger Kaiba had seen Yuugi change to Yami and back often enough, but was sometimes still taken aback with the way it was so obvious to tell the two apart. How could anyone not realise there lived two souls in the teenager's body?

"Mokuba?", Yami asked, when the younger boy remained silent.

Shaking himself out of his own thoughts, Mokuba met Yami's eyes.  
"You understand ancient Egyptian, don't you?" The spirit of the pharao nodded, patiently waiting for the next question, which should hopefully explain Mokuba's presence in the Mouto's kitchen.

"I have.. A recording, that I need translated, and was wondering if you could help me", Mokuba explained. Yami frowned.  
"Why don't you ask your brother? Or get one of your computer programs to do the work for you?", he inquired.

Mokuba blushed and lowered his gaze. Damn Yami and his logical thinking. The recording had been changed in such a way that Seto's voice was no longer recognisable and all the background noise was filtered out, but obviously Yami had to go and ask stupid (logical, reasonable, perfectly obvious) questions. Damn him!

"Did he refuse because he doesn't want to acknowledge the skill, as it's a reminder of him sharing the soul of the high priest? Or..." Yami hesitated: "He doesn't know you're here, does he? Is it a recording of Seto?"

Mokuba shrugged helplessly. Damn Yami and his perceptiveness. Damn his own stupid ideas and not-thought-through plans!

Yami took a seat opposite Mokuba, facing him: "Why are you here, Mokuba? Why do you need someone to translate a recording of Seto speaking ancient Egyptian?"

"Can't you just, I don't know, listen to it and tell me what it says?", Mokuba snapped, suddenly angry. There wouldn't even be a need to translate anything if not for the nightmares. Nightmares which Yami had caused.

Yami seemed to listen to something only he could hear, probably discussing the whole situation with Yuugi, then shrugged. "I can give it a try, Mokuba. But just so you know, my Egyptian is not half as good as your brother's, so I might not be able to help you", he warned. Mokuba nodded and pulled out his phone.

The voice that came from the small speakers sounded sterile, the words monotone after all the filters Mokuba had applied.  
Yami listened carefully, his dark gaze focused intently on the device sitting on the table. As the recording came to an end, Yami's eyes suddenly widened before he fixed his expression into what Mokuba silently labeled his duel-face. Seto had one of those, too.

As Mokuba pocketed the phone, he could see worry flicker over Yami's face, and maybe something else that he wasn't quite sure what it was.  
He mentally filed the information for later analysis and waited for Yami to speak.

"Is that all he said?", the pharao asked after a few minutes had ticked by. Mokuba shrugged for the umpteenth time that afternoon.  
"It's just from one night. I've never before recorded any of his nightm-", he broke off suddenly, realising he spilled more than he had intended to. Yami's head snapped up at his slip up.

"What nightmares?" Yami asked. Mokuba looked away, avoiding the searching gaze of the spirit.  
"Mokuba, what nightmares?"

There was a tense moment of silence, a second, maybe two, frozen in time, before...

"How dare you, you of all people, ask after the nightmares!", Mokuba exploded, jumping up from his chair and sending the piece of furniture crashing to the floor. Yami visibly recoiled from the suddenly spitting angry teenager.  
"You gave him these nightmares! You, and you alone!", the younger Kaiba hissed: "Ever since you shattered his mind he's hardly had a full night's sleep and now these NEW nightmares started and it's all. Your. Fault!"

Mokuba was screaming now, his face pulled into an angry mask, and eyes blazing. Yami had somehow caught himself and was now staring Mokuba down like he would any other opponent in the duel arena. When Mokuba's rant paused momentarily, so the teenager could catch his breath, Yami spoke up.

"The nightmares have nothing to do with me, Mokuba", he explained surprisingly calm: "That's not how penalty games work." 

That managed to stop Mokuba, a look of barely concealed anguish and hate frozen on his face. 

"Look, Mokuba, I know it sounds like a lie, but it's not. If the loser in a penalty game paid his due they are released, completely released, from whatever the punishment was about", Yami explained: "If your brother still has nightmares even after the punishment has been delivered in full - which it has, for quite a while now let me assure you - then it's something else eating away at him."

"No. You have to be wrong. You must be!", Mokuba protested, all anger and the energy which had come with it suddenly gone. Numbly he picked up the chair and dropped down on it.  
Yami noticed how much he looked like his brother when defeated and tired.

"Mokuba", Yami tried again: "I would really like to help you, but I don't know how. Especially as I don't understand what situation we are talking about.  
"As I understand it at the moment, your brother has nightmares, and in some of them he speaks in an ancient language. But apart from the fact that I speak that language, I see no connection to me, so I don't know what to tell you."

Mokuba was staring at his hands, his thoughts a jumbling mess in his head. He had believed that once he got Yami to translate the Egyptian bit of Seto's dream, everything would be solved. But it never was that easy, was it? Wait..!  
He jerked his head up and focused his gaze on Yami's face.  
"You never told me what he said! You say you cannot help me, but you haven't actually translated anything for me yet!", Mokuba accused the pharao: "Of course you wouldn't be able to help him, but I may. I will! I just need to know what he says."

To Mokuba's surprise, Yami blushed a deep shade of pink and suddenly it was once more Yuugi sitting at the table.

Yuugi looked dumbfounded at Mokuba, obviously just as surprised to be back in charge as his guest. Mokuba raised an eyebrow, waiting for some sort of explanation.

After blinking a few times, and shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts, Yuugi got up from he table and went about the kitchen to make tea. "Yuugi, what exactly just happened?"

Pouring himself and his guest a cup of tea, Yuugi tried to find words to explain his aibous sudden retreat.  
"I don't make it a habit to listen in to Yami's thoughts", Yuugi started: "I usually hear when he talks to someone, but I can choose not to."

Yuugi turned around and placed the cups on the table. "From what I gathered from Yami's thoughts, the words your brother spoke in his sleep are of a rather private nature", Yuugi went on, turning the cup in his hands.

"So you're not going to explain or translate, either", Mokuba stated. Yuugi nodded.

"I don't understand the nature of your brother's nightmares. However I assume that actually speaking with Yami could solve some issues", Yuugi laughed humourlessly: "Unfortunately, that's not likely to happen."

Mokuba had to admit that Yuugi was right. His brother would rather face Gozaburu once more than ask anyone for help.  
Asking Yami for help was about as likely as Seto dressing up as Santa Clause and dancing in the main hall of Kaiba Corporation: not going to happen, ever.

"What if we brought Yami to wake Seto up after one of these nightmares?", Yuugi asked suddenly.  
The younger Kaiba looked at him for a moment, then shook his head: "I promised Nii-sama that I'd never wake him up during nightmares again."

Yuugi sighed. It was a tricky situation. On one hand, he was pretty convinced that if Yami just talked to Seto, things could be solved. On the other hand, Yami was hiding in his soul room, embarrassed and sulking. Oh boy...

"I can't really help you, Mokuba. If you decide that having Yami there for one night is required, send me a message. Otherwise... Maybe the nightmares will stop again, soon?", Yuugi finally suggested, but didn't really believe it.

 

Later, when Mokuba had gone back to Kaiba mansion and Yuugi sat in his room, he made an attempt to talk to his other self.

"So, let me get this straight. You clearly lied to Mokuba. The dreams are very much connected to you. Seto is dreaming about you! And he is saying all these sappy romantic things, correct?", Yuugi asked.  
There was only silence from the other side of the door to Yami's soul room.

"You're being ridiculous, you know?!", Yuugi accused: "The way I see it, Seto has a crush on you, and you have a crush on him. Even for two stubborn idiots like you, this should be a manageable problem!"

The door opened suddently, showing an angry and embarrassed Yami. "I don't have a crush on anyone!" Yuugi just raised an eyebrow.  
"Really? Because that's exactly what it looks like to me." The door was slammed shut again, and Yuugi laughed.

 

The same night, Mokuba was woken by Seto's muffeled shouts once more, and went to investigate.  
Visiting Yami had not helped him solve the riddle of Seto's nightmares, but Mokuba would be damned if he gave up that easily. Maybe if he waited until the end of the nightmare episode, Seto would wake up and he could talk to him.

It was a small hope, but at the moment it was all Mokuba could think of.

 

But for the next three nights the nightmares continued and never did Seto wake up after the episode of speaking Egyptian.  
Mokuba was beginning to despair, and after the fourth night spent at his brother's bedside, he had had enough.

By then, the Kaiba brothers wore matching dark shadows under their eyes, lived off of coffee, and in Seto's case, were even grumpier than usual.  
Mokuba was pretty sure his brother's personal assistant would quit if Seto snapped at her once more today.

And so the younger Kaiba decided to throw caution in the wind and call Yuugi. Or Yami. Whatever...  
It was Yuugi who picked up the phone, Mokuba assumed, and they agreed to meet up the next evening for some video games.  
Seto would hate it, but overall he had a higher tolerance for Yuugi than for any other member of the Yuugi-tachi. So they should probably be fine.

The next morning Mokuba mentioned that Yuugi would come visit over breakfast, and Seto nearly dropped his coffee.  
Mokuba raised an eyebrow at his Nii-sama but refrained from further commenting on the matter. Seto had not yet forbidden Yuugi from coming over, and Mokuba really didn't want to push his luck.

 

"Wow...", Yuugi commented dryly: "You look like you haven't slept in days." Mokuba threw him an angry glare, and Yuugi raised his hands in mock surrender.  
Jeez, these Kaiba brothers must have a patent on death glares.

The two teenagers made their way via the kitchen to the living room and flopped down onto one of the enormous sofas.  
Mokuba fetched some snacks, two glasses and a bottle of Coca Cola, then they started arguing about which game they should play first.

 

By the time Seto came to the living room, the two boys had emptied the bowl of chips and were once more arguing about which game to play.  
From his spot by the door where he was leaning against the frame Seto smiled fondly at the two boys. Then he remembered that with Yuugi present, Yami was literally just a blink away from him and retreated to his office.

While going over the emails that had managed to arrive in his inbox within the last ninety minutes, he mused over the fact that Mokuba had suddenly felt the need to invite Yuugi over.  
And if Yuugi, why not the entire gang. 

While it was a given that the older Kaiba was quite glad it was just Yuugi, it seemed slightly odd, still.

Some two hundred emails, one presentation and a drafted press release later, Seto had to suppress a yawn and stretched, looking at the clock on his screen. It was nearing two in the morning, and he decided it was time to call it a night.

He got up from his chair and finally changed into some more comfortable clothes.  
Going downstairs to the kitchen, he popped his head into the living room. From the sounds of it, the boys were playing one of the racing games, though from his position Seto couldn't see the screen, so there was no guarantee.

"Mokuba", he called, making the boys jump. He allowed himself a satisfied little smirk. "I know there's no school tomorrow, but you should still finish up and go to bed. I gather Yuugi will stay the night?"

Mokuba nodded eagerly, while Yuugi at least had the manners to look a little sheepish and mutter: "If that's ok, yes, please. But I can still get home, if you want me to!"  
Seto nodded. "It's fine, really. Just make sure you get into bed soon."

The older Kaiba then went over to the kitchen to get a cup of tea. And then he would go to bed. Seto couldn't remember when he had last had a good night's sleep. His night's were short by default, but with the nightmares coming back worse than ever, he never felt rested anymore.  
Well, and the nightmares hadn't gotten worse exactly. However since Battle City he started having vivid dreams about Yami, and about Yami and himself.

Seto stood spaced out in front of his cup of tea and flinched when Mokuba came into the kitchen.  
"We're off to bed. Yuugi will sleep in the room opposite mine. I'll lend him one of my sleeping pants", Mokuba explained, as if he hadn't noticed Seto's absent gaze.  
Then he was gone again, and Seto stared at his now cold cup of tea. He shrugged, poured the cold tea in the sink and went to bed.

 

Meanwhile Mokuba and Yuugi sat on Mokuba's bed playing Uno (Mokuba had refused to play duel monsters). From experience the younger Kaiba knew that it took around an hour after Seto had gone to sleep for the nightmares to start.

Anxiously Mokuba looked at his watch. What if Seto didn't have nightmares tonight? What if Seto didn't have the dream where he spoke Egyptian?  
They couldn't have Yuugi come over every night, especially not on school nights, and Seto would quickly get suspicious.

But Mokuba needn't have worried. Like clockwork, an hour after they had heard The door to Seto's room close, they could hear faint noise through the door.  
Yuugi looked at Mokuba. The boy nodded, worry written all over his face. 

Yuugi closed his eyes and called out to Yami.  
The spirit of the sennen puzzle had sulked for the past week, still miffed because Yuugi had made fun of him for his crush. But now he reacted, opening the door of his soul room to meet Yuugi's expectant gaze.  
"So it's time?"

Yuugi nodded, and with a small smirk handed control over their shared body to Yami.

"Yami?", Mokuba asked, although the change in the person opposite was obvious. Dark red eyes looked at the younger Kaiba as Yami nodded.  
"Are we going over now, or do we wait?"

"I think it's best to wait until the Egyptian dream starts. It's no use sitting beside Nii-sama before then, and I don't want to risk him waking up before that", Mokuba explained in a hushed voice. Yami just nodded.

There was a knot of nervous energy in his stomach and he felt slightly sick. Why, oh why had he let Yuugi talk him into this!

The two played another round of Uno, which Yami naturally won and the left Mokuba groaning something about stupid luck and true king of games, before the noise from the neighbouring room suddenly stopped.  
Mokuba nodded for Yami to follow him, a finger pressed to his lips to ensure Yami realised that he had to keep his mouth shut now.

They tiptoed to the door and Mokuba carefully opened it. Seto lay perfectly still in his bed, and for a second the Mokuba thought they had missed their chance.  
Then Seto started mumbling words in a language long dead, and Mokuba relaxed slightly.

Mokuba motioned for Yami to get into the room and silently closed the door behind him.  
Yuugi and Mokuba had agreed it was probably best if Yami was alone in the room with Seto. Like that he could pretend to have heard Kaiba scream during his nightmare and keep the blame from Mokuba. All agreed that Seto wouldn't buy the lie for even a second, however if the mission should be a spectacular fail, Kaiba could direct most of his anger at Yami, and hopefully spare Mokuba.

 

Yami listened to the words and felt his nervousness grow. Eavesdropping on Kaiba in such a vulnerable state, and murmuring such private, tender words felt wrong. Even if the words of love and passion were dedicated to him.

Silently walking over to Kaiba's bed, Yami waited another moment.  
Despite the talking in his sleep bit, the man looked peaceful, and Yami loathed to wake him from his slumber. It would make Kaiba angry, he just knew it. He could almost feel Yuugi's disapproving frown and took a deep breath.

As Kaiba's mumbling ceased for a moment, Yami carefully placed a hand on the other man's shoulder and shook him.  
Kaiba's eyes flew open, momentarily disoriented before landing on the nightly intruder. 

"I know you", he murmured, still in ancient Egyptian: "I walked with you once upon a dream."  
Yami smiled. "And now that you are awake and I am still here, what will you do?"

Kaiba slowly lifted a hand, almost as if scared Yami would disappear when he tried to touch him, and tenderly caressed his cheek.

"So it was a plot from Mokuba after all?", Kaiba asked softly. In lieu of answering, Yami only smiled. The CEO let out a low huff, but didn't seem mad. He sat up in his bed and motioned for Yami to join him.

"And how did my dear brother figure out that he needed to get you in my bedroom in the middle of the night?", Kaiba wondered, eyes unfocused.  
Yami blushed, something thankfully hidden by the dark of the room. 

"He heard you talking in old Egyptian and decided that I should translate the words for him."  
Kaiba's eyes widened almost comically: "Did you... You didn't tell him...?"

Yami shook his head: "No. I figured there were quite a few things that your brother does not need, nor want to hear"

The two shared a half-smile, before Kaiba lay back down.  
"As you're already here, you can as well stay. Or will I wake up beside Yuugi tomorrow?", he asked.

Yami slipped under the covers, careful not to touch Kaiba should he not want that. Though if his sleep talking was anything to go by, he probably wouldn't object.  
"No, I don't think so", Yami replied with a yawn and closed his eyes and heard Kaiba release a relieved sigh.

Just before he drifted off to sleep, he felt Kaiba wrap an arm around his waist and pull him close.

 

It seemed sometimes Yuugi's ideas were not as ridiculous as Yami originally thought.  
And all issues this new development would bring could wait until the next morning...

**Author's Note:**

> (This is fucking long, I'm so sorry about that. The muse took the idea and ran away with it...)
> 
> This hasn't been posted on my tumblr (RoseDelSol) during the Prideshipping Week (1. - 7. September 2016), because I was writing it all on mobile and just couldn't get the formatting right in the text post afterwards...
> 
> I plan to put up all days as part of a series, and add the days which have not been written yet / were not completed in time for the Prideshipping Week.
> 
> Kudos and Reviews are highly appreciated!


End file.
